October 2012

October 28, 2012

Three years ago I noticed a young company (GoPro) was selling cameras which could be worn during extreme sports, in my case Nordic ski marathons. During the Winter of 2010 as I competed, fellow cross-country ski competitors would take me aside after a race and ask me about the "device" on my head. Most people thought it was a fancy light for night time skiing. I would then show off my "skicam", and explain how I had found this small company out West ...

Fast forward three years, and GoPro is now sold at BestBuy, Amazon, and all over the web. However, I have "skicam envy". The newer GoPro models have sharper lenses, and greater mexapixels. Yet, given the cost to upgrade ($300), I held off.

The wait is over, with the release of GoPro3, I discovered that the new Silver 3 had the same specs as the Hero 2. Better yet, Amazon is offering a $100 discount. Thus, SkiCam Man has upgraded to the Hero2 Outdoor model. This Winter, I will have:

11 megapixel images

1/2 to 60 time lapse photography

Rechargeable battery via USB

One button operation

If you've ever considered taking photos while participating in athletic events, and do not need super high end video, now is the time to buy the older Hero 2 model. The only advantage of the Silver 3 model is it is a bit smaller, and can off load content via wifi, but in terms of the camera ... it's the same! All my old mounts work fine (head, chest, and bike).

Wonder whether my own analysis is correct about the old versus new models? Here is an excerpt from Digital Photography's review of the GoPro lineup:

"The Hero 3 Silver edition, essentially a Hero 2 in the latest smaller body, also gains Protune mode for its HD output - a feature added via firmware to existing Hero 2 models. The latest models also gain Wi-Fi control to allow remote control via the recently-announced App, while the Black Edition includes a waterproof Wi-Fi controller."

Here a few photos from this afternoon's Nordic trail run using my head mount and new GoPro. The conditions weren't perfect for photography (heavy clouds, and all the foliage is down). Click upon any image to maximize and view at full resolution.

October 16, 2012

Do you have a Google account? Do you use Google for your primary search engine? Are you curious about whether your own past search history may be warping what you find (or don't find), when conducting new Google searches (i.e. research)?

Additionally, if you are responsible for search engine optimization (SEO) at your organization, you may be fooling yourself in terms of your company's overall search rankings.

Google has recently enabled the ability to turn on and off your personal search results. Why might this be useful? Here are just two examples:

You are conducting new research, and don't want to see past history. You are looking to find new content / sites.

SEO is important to your firm's profit or success. If you see your own history interspersed within your results and don't recognize those results as not representative of the web at large, do you truly understand your Google ranking?

It is easy to toggle on and off between your personal results. Here are four screenshots. Did you know that the NorthStarNerd is #1 when it comes to Nordic Ski Knickers? Not!

However, my ranking for reviews and tests of the new Republic Wireless is quite good, but not yet number one for this query "Republic Wireless Review", but is #1 for Republic Wireless Test. This kind of nuance is important for SEO. Once you get below the 3rd result, not that much traffic gets driven to your site (learn more ... see prior post which includes academic research conducted by Cornell University)

October 13, 2012

As another cycling season rolls to a close in northern Minnesota, I consider myself lucky to live on the shores of Lake Superior. In warmer weather, most afternoons will see me cycling up the North Shore, and now that the temperatures are following ... I can hardly wait to Nordic ski through the northern Boreal forests. There are advantages to being a software nerd, and being able to work far from the maddening crowd.

I always wear my Garmin when I exercise, and over the past few weeks I've created a web site which links to the Garmin Connect data for some of my favorite rides, and skis in the Northland (Minnesota, Northwest Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). If you've ever desired to compete in some of America's top cross-country ski races including the American Birkebeiner and the Mora Vasaloppet, you'll find Garmin data for these events and many more.

Here is just one example of the Garmin data for a bike ride from Superior, Wisconsin to Bayfield, Wisconsin along the South Shore of Lake Superior. (Garmin Connect Data). Click upon any image to view at full size.

Software deployments, hosting changeovers, and new firewall filters are only a few of the reasons why I've worked 6 of the last 7 weekends, but a common theme for my day job has been the need to monitor my work, sometimes troubleshoot and always insure my customers have a positive experience. Like many of you, the budget available for add-on troubleshooting tools is often minimal. Thus, I thought folks might like to know some of the tools I use to make life easier, and solve problems. In succession, this post will present some of my favorite tools for use on desktop, android and finally iPad computers. These days, you need to work upon all platforms

By far and away, my favorite free utility which helps me understand what a web site is doing, when something does not seem to be behaving as I would expect is "HTTP Watch". This great tool will let you understand what is happening (or not happening) in the back ground of your web site. Recently, when my project team was stumped as to why a video player would not load inside a corporate firewall, HTTP Watch was invaluable. We quickly learned the new video player was calling an Akamai high definition site which was blocked by our firewall. Using HTTP Watch is easy. Download, Install, Record, Reload Web Page, View Results. Here is a session from loading this site (i.e. NorthStarNerd.Org). Sometimes the results may surprise you as to the number of calls to other web sites are invoked on any given web page.

For all the images found within this post, click to view at full size / resolution.

Start HTTP Watch

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Press Record | Reload Web Page | Evaluate

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Evaluation Continued: Additional Tab

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Assuming your service is now properly working, you will need to monitor the uptime. It's always better to discover before your customer that a web service is down. This post now presents two options, one of a desktop PC, and one via a smartphone (Android). While a PC version has more power and can deliver more data, the advantage of a smartphone is it is always with you ... thus the potential for immediate notification.

For the PC, many tools exist, but one nice choice is EMCO Ping Monitor. This free utilitiy allows one to configure a ping service, and many additional options. If you have an SMTP service available, EMCO will send you an email when an anomoly is discovered. Here are a few screenshots.

Add a Service to Monitor

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Configure Options

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Monitor Results

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If I want to accomplish the same on my Android phone (i.e. monitor sites for which I am responsible), Ping HostMonitor is a nifty little free utilitiy. One may quickly add sites, configure the ping period, and then set up monitoring via a smartphone. A quick visual check when using your phones lets one no everything is okay. Here are three screenshots from my Motorola Defy Android Smartphone.

Android Home Screen

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Ping HostMonitor Home Screen & Settings

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Finally, this review finishes up with the iPad. While the iPad is definitely not a development platform, you still need to understand what is happening. While not as useful as HTTP Watch, iDebug (iTunes | Developer Web Site) is good utility for learning how a web site behaves when loading on an iPad, and also inspecting the code. As always with this review, click to maximize any image.

iDebug Analyze of NorthstarNerd.Org

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iDebug Source Code for NorthstarNerd.Org

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I hope this analysis of some nice free utilities has proven useful. I recongnize there are many other tools which can assist with your web site analysis and troubleshooting. Feel free to suggest options in the comments.